The Center for Promoting STEM (CPS) is providing programs and activities for students and faculty and for area high school students and teachers that are increasing the number of students who pursue studies and receive postsecondary degrees in STEM disciplines. CPS builds and expands upon previous successful activities.
1. Promotion: High school and college students annually attend or participate in events to increase their awareness of and interest in STEM disciplines and careers, as follows: student clubs organize academic, career and social activities; a CEO, Scholar and Expert Forum features distinguished speakers in STEM fields; the Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering Competition; Tech Tracks, a technology open house at Oakton; and faculty outreach to local high schools.
2. Retention: a) STEM Success Seminars include topics such as study skills, time management, stress management, transfer to a 4-year college, career exploration, communication skills, and problem-solving techniques.
b) Students who place into remedial math and those with limited English proficiency are selected for the STEM Enrichment Program where they receive intensive academic support to increase achievement and motivation. Classroom time integrates technology, real-world practice problems, and industry field trips.
c) Study Sessions help students master course content and develop learning and study strategies by engaging them with their peers outside of class in regularly scheduled sessions facilitated by honors students.
d) The Mentoring Program recruits students who are matched with a faculty mentor and receive a fellowship after one semester in the program.
e) The STEM Internship Program provides training for: (1) Peer Tutors for excellent high school students to participate in tutoring STEM at the college; (2) STEM Lab Assistants to work in one of the STEM labs at the college; and (3) Worksite Internships funded by a state grant at area businesses and industries.
f) The STEM Faculty Leadership program improves teaching and leadership skills of college STEM faculty and produces innovative modules that enhance teaching and learning in STEM courses.
g) Student-Industry-Teacher Simulations (SIT-SIMs) augment STEM instruction in high schools and community colleges with hands-on, contextualized learning modules developed by teams of industry professionals and Oakton STEM faculty.
Center for Promoting STEM, Oakton Community College www.oakton.edu/cp-stem In 2007, the New York Times published an article entitled "For Achievers, a New Destination: Two Year Colleges You May Want to Attend-and Leave" by Beth Frerking (Education Life Supplement Late Edition - Final, Section 4A, Page 23, April 22, 2007). The piece spotlighted Oakton as one of the most successful two-year colleges. Specifically, Frerking noted that Oakton, "recently received a continuing grant of nearly $800,000 from the National Science Foundation to bolster learning in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, particularly for underachieving students." Since that time, Oakton’s STEM program has come to be one of the most respected in the state. This report profiles the College’s progress since receiving the first NSF pilot grant in 2002. In 2002, the National Science Foundation awarded Oakton Community College a pilot STEM Talent Expansion Program (STEP) grant (DUE-0230682), followed by a full STEP grant in 2006 (DUE-0622329). During the pilot project, the Project Investigators (PIs) tested academic support and motivation theories, discern best practices, and refine objectives and activities. Building on and expanding the activities of the pilot grant, the full STEP grant launched Oakton’s Center for Promoting STEM (CP-STEM). CP-STEM focuses on promotion, retention and education (including academic support), collaboration, and evaluation and dissemination. The Center offers enrichment activities that nurture student achievement in STEM-related fields. In partnership with area high schools and local industry, the project PIs developed a number of initiatives, which garnered strong support from industry executives, secondary school educators, and peers of the PIs, reaching more than 2,000 high school and college students. CP-STEM established Oakton’s positive reputation for focusing on STEM education within the district and throughout the state community college system. CP-STEM accomplishments include: A growing STEM student population. By the end of the second grant (September 2012), more than one-third of Oakton graduates were pursuing a STEM major -- more than triple the number of graduates who chose a STEM major before the grant began in 2006. Student-Industry-Teacher Simulations (SIT-Sims). Teams of Oakton faculty and industry representatives create activity-based lessons. At Oakton, area high schools students participate in the activities such as logistics, genetics, heat transfer, green technology, vibrations, and medical science. Industry representative discusses his/her job and application of activity within the company. Student and faculty gave overwhelmingly positive survey responses. SIT-Sims also influenced the College’s new nanotechnology curriculum, leading to inclusion of more activity-based modules. Problem-based Learning (PBL). CP-STEM offered interdisciplinary professional development seminars incorporating PBL pedagogy for the past eight semesters to 28 Oakton faculty and six high school teachers. Mentoring. Through the STEM Mentoring Program, students interested in STEM majors and careers meet with a faculty mentor on a regular basis to discuss the challenges of STEM studies and other academic issues. Students and their mentors also often participate together in extracurricular STEM activities. In a controlled study over the last three years of the second STEP grant, STEM program students earned, on average, an additional 0.35 GPA points per semester than the overall student population. Based on this result, Oakton believes that mentored STEM students have a deeper level of engagement than STEM students without mentoring. In addition to the project director and co-project directors, 38 Oakton faculty, two four-year faculty, and two industry members serve as STEM mentors. Peer-Led Learning (PLL). Instructors worked closely with peer leaders to design handouts and activities for students in the mandatory study sessions. An average of 74% of students attend the mandatory PLL sessions as opposed to about 40% of students in classes offering voluntary study sessions. Twenty-two students facilitated 34 STEM study sessions. Peer Led Learning: Attendees vs. Non-attendees Mean Course Grade Attendees (n=43) 2.26 Non-attendees (n=123) 1.88 Conference for Promoting STEM (CoPS). By the end of the grant, CP-STEM hosted five Conferences for Promoting STEM, with a total of 218 faculty and administrator participants from Oakton, district high schools, nearby community colleges, and four-year schools. The 2012 conference theme is Recruiting and Retaining Underrepresented Students in STEM, and features Catherine Good, assistant professor of psychology at Baruch College, speaking on "Overcoming Negative Stereotypes: Applying Theory to Practice,", and Amy Slaton, professor of history at Drexel University, speaking on "Pursuing STEM Diversity: The 'Problem' of Identity in American Science and Engineering." An enhanced half-day nanotechnology program will be added to future CoPS events. Over the course of the five-year grant period, CP-STEM became an umbrella over and hub for many STEM-related ventures initiated by Oakton -- far beyond those originally set forth in the NSF STEP grant. A full-time Co-PI, Gloria Liu, coordinates CP-STEM and have been retained beyond the term of the grant. CP-STEM now is a permanent institutional entity.
